Stellar Dragons
by arielle.dawnn
Summary: Cana is the new S class mage. Natsu asks Lucy to be his partner for the next trial. Going on an 11-month mission to train. Coming back to the guild Natsu is hurt, feeling betrayed at hearing what his guild mates say about him. Or was it the usual comments? Slow progress to the betrayal, I want to show the growth in their training and relationship. Natsu leaves to prove them wrong.
1. Chapter 1

This is not my first story, but it is my first fan fiction. I hope that the first chapter is not too boring or bad. I feel that I always struggle with the beginning, but have been told differently.

So the 7 year time skip did not happen, but the attack form Grimoire Hearts did. I hope you like it.

I do not own Fairy Tail.

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Chapter One

Lucy's POV

"Listen up brats." Master shouts at everyone from the stage. "Being a mage is not an easy job, I think being a Fairy Tail mage is even harder, with all the debt and destruction…" master says that last bit to himself, but everyone hears and laughs. "The S class trials were especially difficult this year. Right after finishing the trial, we were attacked by Grimoire Heart, but we were able to defeat them and overcome the hardship they tried to give us!" Cheers could be heard all around town.

"It is my honor to present the new S class mage of Fairy Tail." Master pauses dramatically "This year's new S class is Cana Alberona! Please come up to the stage for a speech Cana!"

Everyone begins to look for Cana as the time passes. A shout of laughter is heard as Cana strolls out on the stage with two barrels of beer in her arms and long straws coming from both of them. "Sorry about being late everyone, have to catch up on what I was missing out on when the trials were happening" she shouts. Everyone mentally face palms at her.

"But seriously I would not be up here if it were not for my partner Lucy. She is the reason I became S class, and I owe her more than just that. So thank you Lucy, for both being my partner as well as helping me with telling my father he has a daughter."

I tear up looking at the happiness on Cana's face, I know that being able to tell her father means more to her than anything. I give her a giant smile, one stating that I would always be there for her. While we are looking at each other we don't realize that the guild is quiet. Looking around we see everyone looking confused.

"Cana, who is your dad?" Mira asks.

"Oh right sorry, when I came to this guild it was right after my mother died. In her legal paperwork I was able to find out who my dad was. Coming here I was able to see them often, but they were popular and I was not able to tell them. As time went on I became scared. I thought that when I became S class I would tell them, and I was able to when we were on the island. My father is…"

Before she was able to continue Gildarts runs out onto the stage, scoops up Cana and bellows loudly with hearts in his eyes "CANA IS MY BABY GIRL EVERYONE!"

"Old man! I said to wait and let me tell them" Cana hollers trying to get out of his arms. Once again the guild goes quiet.

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"EHHHHHHHHH!" everyone shouts. I laugh loudly as Cana freezes and looks sheepishly towards the crowd. "Yeah Gildarts is my father. Now let's celebrate everyone Fairy Tail Style!"

Cheers are heard all around and beer is sloshing in mugs as people are celebrating. Sitting at the Bar with my smoothie I look around with a smile on my face as I see the cheerfulness of the guild. One person I don't see is Natsu. I hope he isn't too upset about not being the new S class. A frown on my face as I continue to look for him I feel somebody sitting closely next to me.

"What's wrong Luce? You should be smiling and happy." I hear my best friend say. I spin to him quickly expecting him to be upset or frowning. Neither of those looks are on his face. He is smiling largely with pride in his eyes.

"Sorry Natsu, I was actually looking for you, I was worried you were upset about not being the new S class."

His eyes soften, "it is a bummer, but I am happy for Cana. She deserves this, and if partners were able to get S class, you would deserve it as well. I am proud to call you my best friend."

"You deserve it too Natsu, you always protect the guild and everyone in it. You have the biggest heart I have ever seen. I hope you get S class next time." I say softly. I want him to know I am proud of him as well.

"Thanks Luce, I will work hard to get it nex…" Natsu is cut off by a punch to the face.

"You owe me a fight tabasco breath!" Gray shouts as he grabs Natsu pulling him into the growing fight.

"You're on snow cone!"

Once again Fairy Tail is in a full on brawl, that is until someone knocks Erza's cake over.

* * *

"Brats, I have one last thing to talk about." Master waits until everyone is listening before continuing. "Given what happened on the Island I have decided to hold another trial in one years' time instead of two. That said, I have an option to those who are wanting to be nominated for S class. I want everyone to train hard, to show that you should be nominated. I am giving those who want to participate long term missions where they can earn money as well as train. This is just an option, and is not mandatory. If you decide you want to do that come talk to me tomorrow and bring a partner. Of course you are able to go with a team, but I think that the training would be best if it were just your partner to bond closely, learn each other's fighting styles as well as how to work together both physically and mentally. One more thing I need the exceeds to come talk to me for a moment" master finishes.

"I wonder what master wants with Happy." Natsu says confused.

"I don't know Natsu, but I'm sure it is not bad. Are you going to do one of those long term missions?" I ask quietly, I don't want to hold him back from being S class, but I would be sad if he does because Happy is his partner.

"Hmm I don't know; I'll think about it. When Happy comes down how about we walk you home?"

"Sounds good with me, I am pretty tired from everything." Yawning right after.

"NAAAATSU!" Happy screams as he flies over to us. "I have something to tell you!"

"Aright buddy, you can tell me as we walk Luce home."

"Aye sir!"

Chuckling we made our way out of the guild. Happy is doing a little jig as he flies.

"So what did you have to tell Natsu Happy?" I ask, trying to contain my laughter at his excitement.

"Right! Master wants Carla and me to learn the battle form that Lily knows. He is going to train us to use it and wants our help during the next S class trial. Sorry Natsu but Lily said we need all the time we can get…. Well he said I did but he is just jealous that I would be blocking him from getting Charla from me" he says as he clenches his paw in the air.

Laughing both Natsu and I smile as his imagination. "Wait Happy, what about being Natsu's partner for the trial?"

He immediately stops moving, tears growing in his eyes. "Oh no Natsu! Now you will never get S class because you won't be able to find a partner as good as me! I am so sorry!"

Scratching the back of his neck Natsu looks a little sheepish. "Happy it is okay; I was actually going to ask Luce to be my partner this time."

Shocked I look at him to see him avoiding my look with a little redness to his cheeks. I can see Happy just as surprised. Happy wipes away his tears and tilts his head in slight confusion. His face then gets mischievous. "You liiiiiiiike her!"

Rolling our eyes at the overused joke we continue walking to my apartment. "So Luce, what do you say? Will you be my partner for the trials?" Natsu asks a little nervously.

"Are you sure Natsu? I don't want to drag you down; I am not that strong."

Natsu looks stunned that I said that. "What are you talking about Luce? You're one of the strongest people I know. If you feel that you aren't I will train you. I figure we can take one of those long term missions. We can use the time to train and get you the rent money you need. I know master has a thing set up for those who do long term missions that the guild will pay your rent and when you complete the mission you just pay it back. I also want you to train me as well."

"Wh..what? Train you? In what?"

"Well I want you to help me be less destructive. I want to prove to everyone that I can be a responsible S class."

Smiling softly, I can see that even though he always smiles, everyone always harping on him being destructive bothers him. "I accept Natsu. I will do everything I can to make you the next S class mage of Fairy Tail!"

His gets a big grin on his face pulling me into a hug and spinning us around. "Thank you Luce! I know with you at my side we can accomplish anything and everything!"

His sweet words cause me to slightly blush. "Of course! We can talk to the master tomorrow about the mission. Hopefully he has something good for us."

Happy who has been quiet up until now "Lushi your face looks weird."

"Oi! Rude!" I shout, but laugh anyways. "When does your training start Happy? Are you going on this mission with us?"

Looking a little upset about not being able to be with Natsu, Happy shakes his head. "No Lily said that we will train for the full year, so unless you take Gray and Erza, it is just going to be you and Natsu."

"No way are we taking that fruit-icicle and that cake demon! Plus, I don't want Gray to know my training, I want to be able to use it against him in the trials. You know master will pick him again."

"Yeah I agree, if you learn new moves and he sees and trains against it, you lose the element of surprise. We can handle the mission and the training. Meet me up at the guild tomorrow at the normal time and we can talk to the master. Oh wait why don't you just sleep on my couch? I know you don't own a clock at home and this way we can talk to master faster," I suggest.

"AYE SIR!" the both shout as Natsu grabs me and leaps to the window.

"YOU IDIOT! USE THE DOOR!"

Laughing he shakes his head, "Why do that Luce? This is more fun and we can get to the food faster!"

Sighing in defeat knowing I won't be able to change his mind on the door we head in to eat and go to bed. Giving Natsu a blanket and pillow I wish him a good night. Turning to go to bed I feel a tug on my wrist. "Thank you Luce, for helping me."

Giving him a small smile, "It is what a best friend would do Natsu. You have helped me more times than I can count. If there is something I can do to help you, I want to do everything I can. You will be the next S class."

One last squeeze on my wrist he lets go. "Yeah, plus this long mission will help a lot, we both need the training. It will help you lose some weight too, you're heavy."

"Aye!" Happy snickers in agreement, quickly falling asleep on Natsu's head.

Feeling the nice moment disappear and a tick mark on my forehead I grab his pillow and slam it on his face. "That's rude!"

We both say night and go to sleep feeling exhausted from the last few days as well as mentally knowing the next year will be filled of hard training.

* * *

End of chapter one. I hope you liked it.


	2. Chapter 2

I hope everyone who read chapter one enjoyed it. Soon I will get into the training. I probably won't go through the whole thing. There are things I want to write about, but to write everything might be a little much. For right now it will be in Lucy's POV for a little bit, just to get the story going. Then I will add in others.

To those who reviewed, followed, and favorited, my story, I want to say thank you! I hope I can live up to your expectations!

I do not own Fairy Tail

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Chapter Two

Lucy's POV

"Luce!"

"Lushi!"

"Luuuucy! You need to wake up!"

"Aye!"

Waking up to an excited Natsu was not how I expected this morning to go. Nor was I expecting Natsu to be on top of my, shaking my shoulders with his face inches from mine. Both of us blush when our eyes connect.

"AHH! Lucy KICK!"

"Ow Luce. At least we don't need to work on the strength of your kicks," Natsu states sitting across the room rubbing his jaw.

"Oops sorry Natsu, just wasn't expecting to be woken up like that." I say while quickly grabbing clothes to take a shower.

"Let's go to the guild Luce, you don't need to shower you smell good. Let's get a mission!"

"Wh..what? I need to shower first, I won't be long. Go get you something to eat." I rush out, embarrassed by what he said. At the mention of food Natsu's attention turns away from the mission and Lucy's desire to shower.

"Aye Natsu's let's eat all her food since you will be on a long mission anyways." Happy says flying towards the kitchen to look for some fish.

"Doesn't stop you from doing that any other day," I grumble.

* * *

Getting to the guild we notice many people still passed out from the night before.

"Mira!" I exclaim sitting in my normal seat while Natsu sits next to me.

"Hey Lucy, I assume you and Natsu want to talk to the master?" She asks, with an odd gleam in her eyes.

"Ye..yeah how did you know?" I stutter a little nervously, not sure why though.

"Well I know that Happy can't be Natsu's partner for the next trial, so I figured you were going to be. Now you can take a long mission, get to know each other, have 30 babies, and be ready for the trial!" She practically screams in her excitement causing both Natsu and I to freeze.

"Uh…Mira are you okay?" Natsu asks slowly.

"Yes, yes of course as long as you come back with babies I will be okay!" She says with a smile, but a glare in her eyes daring him to challenge her. Shutting him up fearfully.

"Um Mira, you do know that we are going to train. Not have babies!" I say embarrassed.

"Why not Lucy?!" She whines, "you two would make the most beautiful babies! My senses are not wrong, I know you will love each other and give me 30 babies!"

"Aaaand that is our sign Natsu, let's go talk to master before Mira locks us in a room." Grabbing Natsu's hand we make our way up to the master. Knocking on the door we go in when the master tells us to come in.

Standing in front of the master I see him raise his eyebrow. Confused I look to see where the master is looking to see that Natsu's hand is still in mine. Quickly letting go and facing a different direction with a blush on my cheeks, failing to notice Natsu blushing too.

Hearing the master clear his throat and a small chuckle we both look towards him. "I am assuming that you two want a mission to prepare for the trial? Just give me the time frame you want to be gone and I will search through what I have. I am assuming you two want different missions correct?" He raises his eyebrow in a challenge and smirks knowingly at what their answer will be.

"Uh no master, I am going to be Natsu's partner for the next trial. I am going to do everything I can to make him S class!" I say with conviction.

"If Natsu's passes the trial, he won't be the only one to get S class this time," master says. Confusion both crosses our faces. How many others would pass? Seeing our looks master continues. "I have decided that the team that passes the trails would both be S class, so Lucy if Natsu's gets S class, so do you my dear."

I freeze, uncertainty in my eyes. "Um master, are you sure about that? I want to help Natsu get S class, but I don't think I am ready for to be S class."

Natsu whips his head in my direction, "Don't you remember what I said last night Luce? I said that Cana deserved to be promoted, and if partners were able to, you would have deserved it as well. I know we will both make S class this year! I am all fired up!" He holds his hand to me to show that we are in this together.

Smiling softly at him for his confidence in me I grab his hand and squeeze showing I believed him. "Natsu's is right Lucy. If anyone deserves it, it is you." We hear master say startling us out of our little moment.

"Now I have the perfect mission for you two. It is asking for Natsu and you Lucy."

"Why us gramps?" Natsu asks.

"Well I assume because a dark guild has been attacking the town and a few of the members are apparently fire mages, so you would be good to contain the fire. As for the celestial wizard, the mayor says that their town comes from a long line of celestial mages, but since it is now considered a rare type of lost magic, they want to pass on the few spells they have left to you. They have heard of your love of the spirits and believe you would use these spells to help others."

Shocked I look at Natsu to see him grinning happily. "Before you get too happy though, I must tell you. This mission is longer than the others I have given out today for the S class training. The mayor says that learning the spells will take a bit of time, as well as finding the dark guild, which is why this mission is listed as an eleven-month mission."

My heart drops. I was so close to being able to strengthen my magic and it will take too long. If I spent my time doing this training, I wouldn't be able to help Natsu or train on my combat. Tilting my head down in sadness I can see Natsu reaching over to grab my hand. Looking at him I still see a smile on his face.

"We can do it Luce. Taking out that dark guild won't take long, and you're smart and strong. You can learn those spells faster than the time frame. Besides we can still train and get even stronger!"

Nodding my head, I can see that he is thinking positively. Even if we don't finish before the time frame I could always go back. I want to help Natsu's too… "Um master, is there a library there? With books on magic?"

"I believe so, I think it has a lot of books on knowledge not known to a lot of people. Why?"

"Well I want to look more into finding ways to help Natsu strengthen his magic, as well as trying to make it less destructive. I think that he would benefit from all the knowledge I could find about fire magic."

Master starts to blubber like a baby hearing that and rushes towards us for a big hug. "Oh thank you! Less debt!" Both Natsu and I sweat drop at the master. "So I take it you will be taking this mission?"

"Aye sir!" We both exclaim.

"Excellent! You two need to pack, I think the train you need leaves in a few hours. Lucy tell your landlady that the guild will be paying for your rent. Oh by the way, the reward on this mission is two million jewels. The mayor also has a small cottage with two rooms in the forest set up for you two since he knows you will need space to train."

"Um master not that I am complaining, but why is the mayor giving us so much money and doing so much for us? I would think that he would have thrown in the training as most of the reward." I ask him.

"While others might do that, when I talked to the mayor he says that the guild is doing a lot of damage, which is where the two million come in. As for the cottage and the training they want to give you, they want to pass on their knowledge to someone who deserves it. They understand that being away from home can get expensive, and the cottage is the mayors. He lets his grandkids stay there when they come to visit, but they all agree that you two need it more, and it is only for eleven months."

"Ah, I guess that makes sense. Thank you master, for this opportunity and everything. Can we keep the reward and me wanting to help Natsu with his magic a secret? I want to surprise everyone and shock them at how strong we got."

"No problem Lucy. If asked I will just say that your mission is longer because there were multiple requests in it. Now if you will excuse me, I need to talk to Natsu for a few minutes. He won't be long."

Nodding I leave the masters office and head towards the bar wanting to get a smoothie since I won't be able to get Mira's smoothies for almost a year.

"Hey Lucy, strawberry smoothie?" Mira asks knowingly.

"Yeah, it will be my last one for a while, so make it extra big please and to go because I need to pack!"

"Oh? How long is your mission?"

"Eleven months, but it comes with a lot of wonderful rewards!" I exclaim happily.

Mira freezes for a moment before resuming her work. "That is a long time Lucy. You know what that means?" She asks handing me my smoothie. A cold chill passes over me as she asks that.

"uh… no, what does that mean Mira?"

"It means that is plenty of time for you and Natsu to fall in love and give me at least one baby!" She squeals.

Horrified that she has a one track mind I quickly stammer out "um no Mira, we have a long mission, with lots of training. No time for babies. Oh look at the time I have to go! Bye!" Running out of the guild I don't stop until I am home, heart stammering I quickly start packing before Mira gets the idea to come here to put unnecessary things in my pack.

"Hey Luce, you forgot this at the guild, I brought it for you," Natsu says as he comes through my window.

Startled I throw what clothes I have in my hand in the air and spin around. Instantly my face turns as red as a tomato when I notice that my panties and a few bras are hanging off of Natsu.

"Kyahh! Sorry Natsu, you scared me," I quickly move to take my things off of him. Trying to move past the awkwardness I ask "what did the master want to talk to you about?"

Being so close to him I am able to see him blush a little and avoid my eyes, "uh nothing important. Anyways here is your smoothie, I need to go pack and tell Happy bye, see you at the train station in an hour Luce!" Natsu says quickly, then bolts out of the window. That was weird. He didn't even get sick at the thought of riding the train. Oh well, shrugging my shoulders and quickly summoning Plue to keep me company, I go back to packing.

When it is time to go I summon Virgo. "Punishment Princess?" She asks with a gleam in her eyes. "NO! Of course not Virgo, anyways can you store my stuff in your world, as well as Natsu's stuff please?" Her eyes soften with love when I tell her no to her request. She just likes to joke around knowing Lucy to be very kind hearted. "Of course Princess, anything for you. Shall I go collect his things now?" I nod to her and she disappears in golden light. Grabbing Plue we walk to the train station. I tell him all about the mission Natsu and I are going on, and the wonderful reward that comes with it. He dances around in happiness sensing my emotions.

"LUUUUCY! YOUR GORILLA MAID STOLE MY BAG!" I hear Natsu scream as I get to the train station. Face palming at all the attention he is gathering. "Natsu, Virgo is not a gorilla maid, and she just stored your stuff with mine in her world so we don't have to carry it," I say as calmly as I can trying to ignore the stares directed at us.

"Oh, well that's cool. Now that we don't have all that weighing us down we can walk to the town!" He tries to walk away quickly but I grab his scarf and drag him towards the train with him protesting loudly.

"Natsu! That is at least a week's walk! It is only one day's train ride."

"Blurghhh, but Lushiiii." He tries to protest, but I am not walking a full week. "It is okay Natsu, it will be over before you know it. You can lay your head in my lap if that makes you feel better."

Blushing slightly, he accepts my offer and lays his head down, his face towards my stomach. A few minutes later the train starts moving and I feel Natsu tense us. I start to run my fingers through his hair and along his scalp to try to calm him down. Slowly he starts to relax. "Hmm smells good" he slurs as sleep pulls him while pushing his face closer to my stomach. "Sleep well Natsu," I tell him while blushing at the closeness.

* * *

I hope you liked this chapter! I realize it might be going a little bit slow, but I don't want to rush the plot. Criticism is greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to those who continue to read, favorite, follow, and review my story. Here is chapter three. I hope you enjoy it. Any criticism is appreciated.

I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

Chapter Three

Lucy's POV

-After the train ride- Arriving at Esther City-

"Natsu! Don't puke on me! I am not transportation!" I squeal as I drop Natsu before he can throw up on me.

"Sorry Luce, but that ride was longer than any others at once. Now let's get some food!"

"We don't have time right now. Let's go talk to the mayor first then I will have Virgo bring us some food."

I can see Natsu drooling at the thought of Virgos ultimate spicy food she makes specially for him. It is so spicy I can feel the heat across a hallway. "Yosh! Let's go so we can eat!" Natsu grabs my hand and runs off towards the mayor's house.

* * *

Knocking on the door, we wait for the mayor while Natsu is bouncing around in excitement. Smiling softly with a chuckle I ask "Why are you so excited Natsu?" Causing him to look at me thoughtfully while still bouncing around.

"Lots of reasons Luce. First we get to beat up some bad guys, I get awesome food from Virgo later, and I am here with my best friend while we train to be S class and the strongest in the guild!"

"Yeah, I hope we can do that too Natsu. You are the strongest to me, magically, mentally, physically, and emotionally. You overcome everything thrown at you to protect us. No one loves the guild as much as you."

"Excuse me, how may I help you?" We hear a feminine voice question. Turning to the door we realize an older woman, who looks like she is in her 70's, is looking at us with a smile on her aged face.

"I'm sorry ma'am, my name is Lucy Heartfilia and this is Natsu Dragneel. We are Fairy Tail members here for the mission the mayor requested," I say politely with a small bow.

"Oh! You're here about that dark guild and the training? Come right in I will get the mayor. I am his wife, Carina. Please sit here while I go get him. I think he was checking into things for your arrival," she says as she leads us to a living room and leaves again through another door.

"This is so exciting! I can't wait to learn more about my magic! Hopefully we can visit the library soon so I can look for some books for you Natsu!" I cry in happiness and excitement. I see Natsu smile softy at my excitement.

"Yeah I can't wait until we get to work. I know you will do a great job in training."

"UMPF," turning our heads we see a massive pile of books on a table right in front of us wobbling a little bit. Hands quickly grab the stack to keep it from falling. "Sorry about the wait kiddos, I was trying to hurry. I am the mayor; my name is Orion. No need for formalities since we will be spending a lot of time together." An aged man, much like Carina comes out from behind the stack of books.

"Hello Orion, I am Lucy and this is Natsu. I am assuming the master called you?"

"Yes! I was looking forward to meeting both of you. Quite famous people you two are." He chuckles.

"Oh yeah? I guess where Fairy Tail goes, so does destruction." Natsu replies looking a little bothered that he is only known for that.

"That is not what I meant Natsu. While your guild is known for that. I meant you two personally. Known for love and strength, always willing to do anything to help your friends. Showing that love for your friends and anger towards those who harm them are able to accomplish anything. That is what you are famous for, both of you really," the mayor says softly.

Natsu looks stunned at what the mayor said. The mayor, knowing that Natsu is struggling, continues on, "Anyways, these books are for you. Your master told me what you wanted to do Lucy, so I took the liberty of gathering some books I think would really benefit Natsu here. This way you don't have to waste time searching and you are able to jump right into training. Firstly, I would like you to take care of the dark guild before you begin though. Our city here does not have any mages besides me, but I can only use archive magic, and I use it for all the history we have on this town. That is how I will be able to train you those spells."

"Of course Orion, we would like any information you could give us on the guild. Do you know where they are? When do they attack? Stuff like that." I ask.

"We do know a location. They are about a half day's hike away from the edge of town. They come about twice a week and steal what they can, but they mainly seem to just want to destroy the history of the town by burning the buildings. Seeing it lost in waves of fire is heartbreaking. Please stop them, and as soon as you do we will begin training." The mayor states a little tearfully at the thought of his precious city being nothing but ruins due to the guild. "You see, we have a lot of old books on magic here, but we keep that hidden from a lot of people to prevent the information from falling into the wrong hands. Therefore, we don't want to consult the Magic Council because they would want this information, and seeing how easy it is for the council to fall at the hands of bad intentions, this information would best be hidden from them and anyone who wants to use it for bad purposes. We believe that if this dark guild knew what information we had, they would stop at nothing to gain it."

I agree with him. It reminds me of Jellal, I know what happened with Jellal was a bad luck on his part, but it did show flaws in the Magic Councils security towards powerful things. Determination at defeating the dark guild burns in our hearts. "We will take care of them, let's go Luce, we have some faces to smash in!" Natsu screams as he races to the door with me trailing behind him quickly. "We will be back mayor! We won't let them destroy anything anymore! Leave is to us!"

* * *

Mayor's POV

I chuckle as I watch them run down the street to defeat the dark guild. "Is she the one Orion?" I hear my wife softly ask as she stands by my side watching them go.

"Yes, she is. I knew of her love for her spirits and guild. I can tell just by meeting her. Her aura radiates her love for both. Her keys also radiated such a golden aura. One I have not felt in a long time. She is truly loved by her spirits, and she loves them as family. I believe she deserves these spells more than any other celestial mage. Her magic is rare, but her heart is even rarer."

"I agree. I think she will excel with these spells and other information. I think her friend will benefit greatly from the books we have for him too. Not many people know the magic in the books we have. I can also see the love, good will, and determination he has in his eyes. With his magic, his emotions make it stronger. will help with what those books will teach him." She says. A mischievous look crosses her face, "Plus, I think they would make an adorable couple. Maybe we can help push them together during their training."

I sweat drop at her matchmaking tendencies. "Uh Carina they are here to train and learn, not fall in love. They might not even like each other like that. Leave them alone," I say hoping she doesn't interfere and make things awkward, she does have a tendency to be wrong… a lot.

"Hmph, my intuition is never wrong. Anyways, why did you put the reward for two million jewels? It won't take much for Natsu and Lucy to take care of them, even someone not as strong as them could take care of them. I am sure Lucy would have been fine on her own."

"I know that. There are a couple of reasons for that. You know Makarov is an old friend. When Lucy first came to his guild he called me about her. He knew of my desire to find a celestial mage with a good heart to train. We weren't sure if she was ready for this training because it takes a lot to handle the spells, but after all her adventures we knew she was ready. Because of her team, she struggles to make rent. She wouldn't be able to give up a year to train without the resources. Luck would have it that the dark guild has been attacking us, even if they didn't do as much damage as I made it seem like," I smirk at her. "So I originally was going to make it one million for her to come, but Makarov told me about their trials and that Natsu was her partner for the trial and for jobs, so I made it two million. Besides, this knowledge is rightfully hers. It was her ancestors that founded this city." I make my way back to my office to make sure I have everything I need to train Lucy and to help Natsu. Carina comes in shortly after.

"Right you are my dear, I can tell she is a very bright girl, she also very strong magically, but she will have to spend more time building her magic containers. They are a good size already, but not enough for these spells."

"I know my dear, but she has old blood running through her. She can do it. Her desire to protect and become stronger will give her the push she needs. She also needs to work on her combat. I think her spirits and Natsu will help largely with that. I think that having Natsu here supporting her will help give her the confidence she needs. I have a gift for him too that will help his dragon slayer magic if he reads those books I picked out for him to read and train with. Those kiddos have bright futures ahead of them."

"That they do Orion, that they do," Carina says softly as she leaves my office.

* * *

Lucy's POV

"Natsu! Let's stop here, based on what the mayor said we can sleep now and take down the dark guild in the morning and be back in town to do training the next day." I beg, exhausted from traveling and jumping straight into the mission. Natsu must have seen how exhausted I was because he agrees without fighting me.

"Sorry Luce, I am just excited to begin training, those books must have all kind of cool magic in them" he says sheepishly. Virgo quickly coming out without even being summoned knowingly bringing sleeping bags and food. I thank her quickly before she leaves.

"I can tell you are excited, you hate reading."

"Well… yeah normally, but if this helps my magic, and helps me from being as destructive then I will read all them as best as I can," he explains softly. I can tell he is embarrassed by telling me that, and I don't know why, until it hits me.

"You still struggle to read don't you?" I ask so quietly, even with his dragon hearing, he strains to hear.

Clearing his throat, "yeah, it isn't like I can't read, and I am not stupid like everyone thinks, it just takes me a little longer. I learned how to read years after other kids my age learned, and even having Erza teaching me those three days, I am still slow at it…"

My heart hurts at hearing his voice sound broken and distressed. I sit down beside him, nudging his shoulder to get his attention. "No one thinks you are stupid Natsu. Reading is a skill, one that takes practice. With all those books that the mayor showed us, will give you a lot of practice material. Plus, I will be there to help you. I will always be here for you when you need my help." I say a little emotionally, unsure as to why I have this strong desire to be by his side and help him overcome everything.

Bringing his arm around to give me a sideways hug, "Thanks Luce, that means a lot to me. I will always be here for you too." We are staring into each other's eyes, emotions are swirling around his eyes, but I am unable to pinpoint what they are.

Suddenly Natsu stiffens, a low growl coming from his chest. "Well I guess we can start training tomorrow when we get back in the morning," he says to me in a chuckle, a grin lighting up his face. "Thank you for meeting us more than halfway, now we can take your guild down and start our training."

Natsu shouts that last bit and I realize that the dark guild was on their way to the town and came across us. A grin comes to my face as well knowing we can get this done even faster.

Giving one last look to Natsu as he lights up his hands with his fire, I quickly grab my whip and Loke's key. We put our backs together to take note of the members we are fighting against. Knowing that we have each other's backs we leap into action quickly taking down the member's without much strain. Summoning Virgo to call the Rune Knights to our location and to bring magic canceling cuffs, we tie of the criminals and wait for the arrival of the police.

"Go ahead and sleep for a while Luce. I will wait for the knights," Natsu tells me gently as he pulls my sleeping bag close to him. "Just stay close so I can keep an eye on you while you sleep."

"Are you sure Natsu? Aren't you tired too?" I ask yawning now that the adrenaline is gone.

"Yeah I am sure; those fire mages gave me a good meal so I am a little too wired to sleep. Plus, now that the job is done I am just too excited knowing we will be training when we get back."

"Okay, if you're sure I will sleep. Wake me up if anything happens or you need something." I lay down with my back facing away from Natsu and facing the open knowing I was safe. One last look at the stars and I quickly fell asleep not noticing the tender look directed at me.

* * *

End of chapter three. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope no one is disappointed at the lack of a fighting scene. To me this one wasn't that important since they were just small time mages and the main purpose for this mission was to get Lucy her training. There are future fights later on in which I will do my best to write well. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

AN Thanks for all the reviews and everyone reading! It is getting into some of the training and I hope everyone will like the spells I want Lucy to have. I am trying to tie it all to her celestial origins. There will be a Natsu POV in the next chapter! Any ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated as well as criticism.

It was brought to my attention that the betrayal part of the story might be confusing to some. My story will eventually lead to a betrayal from the guild. I wanted to make sure I put the betrayal in the summary incase others are tired of or didn't want to read another betrayed story. It hasn't come up yet because I want to build the relationship between Natsu and Lucy as well as go through the training so you can see what her new spells are and such. I hope that clears things up.

I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

Chapter Four

Lucy's POV

-Back at the mayor's house around the afternoon time-

"Wow you two are quick! I wasn't expecting you back for a couple days. Now we can begin training." The mayor says gleefully, clapping his hands together in excitement.

"Welcome back dears. I hope the mission wasn't too hard. I am baking some cookies. They will be done in a little bit. Glad to see you made it back safely," Carina says. 'Here come sit and tell us about the mission. Natsu your books were moved to the floor closer to the couch."

"Thank you Carina, and the mission wasn't too bad. We had fun on it. We got lucky that the guild was already on their way here so it saved us a lot of time. Having Natsu excited to begin training made it fast to defeat them." I say with a smile towards Natsu. He smiles back, but goes back to reading one of his books he picked up when Carina pointed to where they were, both of us missing a gleam in Carina's eyes. "Thank you for your concern," I tell her. She kind of reminds me of Mira with her concern and loving personality. At the same time this thought made me shudder a little bit.

"Anytime Lucy, I must get back to my baking though. Have a good session dear," she says as she leaves.

"Now Lucy, first I need to see where you are at in your summoning. I need to know what keys you have," the mayor says redirecting my attention to why we are here.

"I have ten of the zodiac which are: Aquarius, Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Sagittarius, Leo, Gemini, Aries, Scorpio, and Capricorn. I have five silver as well, Crux, Horologium, Lyra, Nikora, and Pyxis," I say lovingly as I gently rub my fingers across my keys. They radiate warmth at my touch showing they have the same feelings.

Looking back up I can see the mayor gaping slightly. "I knew you had a good collection of keys, but you have a lot more than I thought. You are a very rare person indeed. Now I have a request. I would like you to call out Capricorn. I want to talk to him about your training. I am sure he would like to be back here too; he was here many years ago."

Nodding silently, I grab Capricorn's key. "Open the gate of the Goat! Capricorn!" I chant while feeling my magic pulse and pull as Capricorn comes through his gate.

"Good afternoon Lucy-sama," he greets like usual and bowing.

"Hello Capricorn. This is the mayor Orion, and we are at Esther City. Do you remember being here?"

A fond smile graces his lips as he dips his head in acknowledgment. "Very much so Lucy-sama, though that was many decades ago. I am glad it is still doing well here."

"E-excuse me. Capricorn?" The mayor asks, obvious excitement in his voice. He slowly rises to his feet, bowing deeply to Capricorn. "It is an extreme pleasure to meet you. After all this town and its history is here because of you and the rest of your world. I am an archive mage, so I know almost everything about the history of this city. I am glad I got to meet you, there are many stories written about you and your kin."

Looking at Capricorn you can a surprised look on his face, not used to people acting this way with him. Comprehension shows on his face. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. I am assuming that being here at this city with Lucy-sama, as well as you knowing the history, you are going to train Lucy-sama to learn the celestial spells?" He asks knowingly.

"Yes! I have been looking for the perfect celestial mage to pass on these secrets to and I believe that Lucy here is the best person to teach them to," the mayor states with confidence.

The moment is interrupted with a loud growl. Looking over to find the source of the noise we see Natsu holding his stomach with a sheepish grin. Next there is a poof of gold as Virgo stands there with a tray of food for Natsu

"I have been keeping track of your eating times Princess, as well as the slayers. I hope it was okay I brought an early lunch for the slayer and I will bring more when you are done with your conversation for everyone. If it was not okay, I must take punishment accordingly." Virgo says emotionless, but her eyes give her away. Capricorn and I sweat drop at her while the mayor looks a little horrified. Natsu, who was busy stuffing his face, rolled his eyes at her. Smiling lovingly at her "No Virgo, but thank you for bringing the food. Natsu wouldn't be able to concentrate while being hungry. I greatly appreciate it."

"It is an honor Princess. Call me if you need anything or want to give me punishment." With that she vanishes just as quietly as she came. Looking at the mayor I can see he is trying to figure her out.

"Does she always act like that? You don't punish her do you?" He asks a little scared of my answer.

"No! I have never punished her and I refuse to. I don't know why she wants to be punished." I nearly shout.

"If they are your spirits, can't you just order her to stop and she has to listen to you?"

I gape at him horrifyingly. Anger quickly replaces shock at his question. "Yes I could do that Mayor Orion," I say bitingly. "I refuse to take away her free will. That is her personality, they all have their own and I refuse to try to make them change. They are my friends, not _things_ I can control. If that is how they are, I accept them no matter what. I will _never_ wish for my friends to change who they are or do something they don't want." I say heatedly, my chest rising and falling rapidly with anger. I can feel a gently touch on the back of my hand and start to calm down. I look to see Natsu looking at me with worry, but a small smile on his lips.

Looking back at the mayor I can see him grinning widely as well as Capricorn having a soft smile. Confused I just stand there, trying to figure out why they look so happy.

"I knew it! I knew you were the perfect person for this training! Sorry Lucy, but I know that a lot of the time, celestial spirits are mistreated, and I was just testing you to see how you would react to my cruel question. Now, I can see you have had Capricorn out for quite a while and I am impressed, but these spells require a lot of work." Turning to Capricorn the mayor talks to him "I asked Lucy to call you out for a couple of reasons. First I wanted you to know what is going on here. I also wanted to meet you," he adds a little sheepishly. "Lastly, I would like your help. You know Lucy's magic ability the best and you know what spells I am wanting to teach her. I would like your help with her training. I think she would be able to relax and grasp her training more with your support."

Tilting his head in acknowledgment, "of course I will help with Lucy-sama's training. She will need to meditate to expand her magic containers as well as train physically. Leo and I can help with her hand to hand combat, and I will ask Virgo to make healthy meal plans to give her the nutrients she needs."

"I want to help Luce too! We are in this together!" Natsu says smiling while patting his belly and belching from the food he consumed.

"I will take my leave now Lucy-sama and I will inform Virgo of your meal changes for tomorrow." As Capricorn leaves I hear the Orion calling Carina back into the room since he remembered that Virgo was bringing lunch. Virgo appears minutes later with more food than before.

"I have brought a few things for you to eat Princess. I was unsure as to what the mayor and his wife liked, but I knew that the slayer would eat what is left. I also brought you this," she pulls a glass from seemingly nowhere and hands it to me. Taking a sip, I close my eyes, moaning at the taste of the smoothie and give Virgo a bright smile, completely oblivious of Natsu looking uncomfortable. Although Carina greatly enjoyed watching the interaction. "Oh my gosh Virgo! This is delicious!"

"I was informed of your diet change, but I thought you would like to have one last smoothie before your training." Getting a little teary eyed at her for always thinking of me I give her a big hug.

"Thank you Virgo, for everything." She gently squeezes me back before excusing herself to leave.

"You know I'm surprised Loke hasn't come out yet. He would have been whining that you didn't give him a hug," Natsu snickers while eating more food. I go to refute that statement, but can't come up with anything. Looking at Natsu I can see that he knows he won.

"Who is Loke?" The mayor asks while Carina hands him his plate of food, a look of interest on her face too.

Before I can answer the man in question is coming through his gate, "I have arrived Princess, shall we go on a date tonight so I can admire your beauty and perhaps convince you to love me?" Loke asks while kneeling and kissing the back of my hand. I hear a low growl but ignore it as I pull my hand away.

"Uh…no. Loke this isn't the time. There is someone I want you to meet though." Turning towards the mayor I can see he is confused. "Orion, this is Loke. Or as you might know him, Leo the Lion. Loke this is the mayor of Esther City, Orion and his lovely wife Carina."

Loke freezes at the mention of Esther City. Looking at him I can see he has a blank face. "Um Loke? Is everything okay?" I ask hesitantly.

Just as quickly the look is gone and I am being swept off my feet. "Of course everything is okay Princess! Being here means you are going to train. Now how about we meet at eight tonight to go to dinner to talk about your training?" I sweat drop at his one track mind.

"Put her down Loke." A low commanding voice says. Turning towards Natsu Loke raises an eyebrow at his glare. "We don't have time for you to be distracting Lucy. She needs to train." There is a silent conversation going on between Natsu and Loke. Loke finally sets me down. "Of course I do not want Princess to be distracted. I will be here to help you train. I am going to talk to Capricorn now so I can see what he would like from me. Goodbye Princess."

Turning towards the older couple I begin to apologize. "I am sorry about that. My friends come out on their own all the time."

Orion chuckles, "it is okay Lucy. Please sit and eat so we can talk begin training a bit after. I do have a question though, why do you call Leo 'Loke'?

So while we eat I begin to tell the couple the story of what happened to Loke and how I received his key. He stared wide eye at me in awe the whole time through the tale. While Carina sniffles a little at the cruel way that the spirits were treated.

"See I told you that you were strong Luce." Natsu says and he gently pats my back.

* * *

"Okay now, I would like to see how many of your spirits you can call out and hold them for. We can do that in the back yard here and afterwards I will show you to the house you will be staying at. From tomorrow on we will train there because it has a big open field for you to train in." The mayor says as he stands to lead us to his back yard.

"I will be out in a little bit once I finish the cookies. They should be done now and I need to decorate them. Have fun training Lucy!" Carina leaves and we go to follow the mayor.

As Natsu and I are following I tug slightly on Natsu's shirt to get his attention. "How is the reading coming along?" I ask quietly.

"Well… there is a few things I don't understand. I was going to ask you later when we are alone to help me with it." He replies looking a little downcast.

Grabbing his hand, I gently squeeze. "There is nothing wrong with that Natsu. There are still words I don't know and have to write them down to look them up later. I planned on reading all of the books the mayor picked out for you so I can help you later anyways. Just mark the page on something you don't understand and I will help you with it."

Squeezing my hand back he gives me a grin that lights up his face, "thanks Luce! You're the best!"

Walking out to the backyard we see the mayor waiting patiently for us, a knowing look on his face. The backyard is a good size. Flowers all around the edges with a big opening in the middle. There is a bench that Natsu goes and sits on while reading more of his book. The mayor points to the middle of the yard for me to stand in to give me space while he stands close to Natsu. I see them exchange a few words before the mayor turns to me.

"Okay Lucy I want you to start with your silver keys. This will help me determine what spell to teach you first based on your magic power." I nod in understand and grab on my keys.

"Open the gate of the Canis Minor! Nikora!" Plue comes through his gate dancing "Puu-puun"

"Hey there little buddy. I am assuming everyone knows what is going on?" He nods his head and starts to dance around. This is why I called him first. He can help keep me calm while I try to call out my spirits. I grab another key, "Open the gate of the Southern Cross! Crux!"

"Hello Lucy-sama. We are all aware of what is going on, and I will offer my services anyway I can," the old spirit says.

"Thank you Crux." I call out Lyra next and I can feel my magic draining. I call out Horologium after. Small beads of sweat make its way on my face. Lastly I call out my last silver key Pyxis. My breathing becomes a little labored by the strain of keeping the gates open. Luckily they are just watching me and not using any magic. If they were to use magic I wouldn't be able to keep their gates open. Taking a deep breath, I grab Virgo's key to summon her. I can do this.

"Open the gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" Since Virgo is a golden key the pull on my magic is stronger. I know I can't keep the gates open much longer. I hunch over with my hands on my knees. I notice Virgo does not greet me in her usual way, but I can see the concern in her eyes. She must know that I need to concentrate seriously. My breathing is still labored. This is all I can do? I really am weak, but I can't give up. I can call out one more. I straighten up and reach for another key but I falter. My hearing is dulled and my sight gets blurry. I can hear shouts but they sound so far away. I struggle to remain standing. My heart clenches at the panicked voice I hear. I can see someone running towards me, a frantic look on their face, shouting things I can't understand. Blackness creeps in the edges of my vision before fully taking over and the sensation of falling is the last thing I feel.

* * *

End of chapter four. I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. Chapter 5

I hope everyone enjoyed chapter four. I wrote this story for myself, not thinking that many people would like it, but all the favorites, reviews, and follows have made me happy. Thank you!

* * *

Chapter Five

Natsu's POV

"You can keep reading, but I need you to pay attention to Lucy. You know her best and what her limit it. I think she is the type to push herself past her limits but I don't want her hurt. I need you to make sure she doesn't hurt herself." The mayor quietly says to me as Lucy walks to the middle of the yard.

"Don't worry, I am always here to protect her. Even if it is from herself. She thinks she is weak and is always putting herself at risk to prove she isn't." Turning back to my book I listen to the mayor talk to Luce. I can hear her call out Plue and talking fondly to him.

I try to concentrate on my book but I can hear the strain in her voice when she calls out her fourth silver key. I can see sweat on her forehead, but determination in her eyes. Looking at the mayor out of the corner of my eye I can see he has his archive up while looking at Luce critically with awe in his eyes.

Looking at Luce I can see she has all five of her silver keys out as well as Virgo. I can smell the worry and anxiety coming off of Virgo. Looking at Luce I know something is wrong. Her breathing is too labored and she looks like she is struggling to stand straight. She's hit her limit and she is still going at it. She is stronger than she or anyone else believes, but this is too much for her.

She staggers and my heart drops at the glazed look in her eyes. "LUCY! STOOOP!" I shout to her while I start to run to her. She looks at me but there is no recognition in her eyes. "Everyone leave! Please!" I yell to her spirits, making quick eye contact with Virgo. She nods as in saying she will check on her later before leaving quickly. The rest don't hesitate to close their gates at the sound of my voice. I am running towards Lucy knowing she is going to pass out. Thankfully I get there before she hits the ground. I cradle her to my chest as I sit on the ground and push her hair away from her face. Her breathing evens out without the strain of using her magic and she sleeps peacefully.

I see the mayor shuffling over as fast as he can in his aged years. "Is she okay Natsu?" He asks worriedly.

"Yeah, she is sleeping now. She just strained herself too much. She has not called out that many at once. I know she was able to call out several of the zodiacs in succession, but she has not called this many spirits at once. She was going to try to call out another zodiac but it was too much strain for her body. She still has a little bit of magic power from what I can feel, but her body is not physically balanced for that many spirits." I tell him as I watch her for any signs of discomfort. Slowly my heart rate returns to normal when I confirm she is safe.

"Oh my, is Lucy okay? I came out when I heard the shouting." Carina asks as she stands by her husband, a worried look on her face.

"Yeah she is fine. She just pushed herself too much and passed out. She will be fine when she rests some. Thank you for your concern ma'am."

"It is no problem dear. I know I have not known you two long, but I am fond of both of you. I just wanted to make sure everything is okay. Are you sure she is okay?"

"Thank you. That means a lot and yes she is okay. She just needs to sleep." I tell her sincerely.

"I'm sorry Natsu I didn't realize how much strain was on her physically. Although I know a lot about her magic because of the information here, I can never understand the strain she goes through to hold the gates open with her magic constantly being drained by her spirits when they fight. It's a wonder she is able to hold the zodiacs out while fighting as long as she can."

"What do you mean by that? Her magic being constantly drained when they fight?" I ask confused.

"Don't you know? When she calls out a spirit she has to use her magic to keep the gate open. The zodiacs require a lot more magic to hold open than the silver. When the spirit comes through, any type of magic they use comes from Lucy's reserves. So take Leo since he is a combat spirit. If he was to use magic in one of his attacks, it isn't his magic that is being used. It is Lucy's, well mostly hers. So being able to hold his gate open, while suppling magic for his spells, as well as fighting beside him makes Lucy an exceptionally strong mage."

Amazed I look at Luce. I never knew how hard it was for her to use her magic. She snuggles into my chest more and I realize we are still on the ground. I stand up slowly so I don't wake her and pull her tighter to me. "So based on what you seen from her, what do you think?"

"I think that it will only take about six months for her to learn the spells. After she learns the spells you two are more than welcome to stay at the cottage and continue training. I think that working on her hand to hand combat, agility, and stamina would greatly benefit her, and I know it would help you as well. Well if you don't need any help to carry her back I will show you to the cottage. It isn't a far walk from here. Do you know if her spirits can hear us out here?"

"Yeah I can carry her. I always joke that she is heavy, but she is very light. She is just cute when she is angry. I don't know. Her spirits always come out on their own. I think Virgo will be checking in on her later and probably Loke too. Why?"

"Oh I was just asking. Since it isn't that late into the night I thought you might want to read those books and I thought that maybe they could bring a big bag or something that we could carry the books in. If not, I can have Carina call in some of the residents to see if they would help…" The mayor doesn't get to finish what he was saying because there are two golden lights and Loke and Virgo are standing there.

"We heard you. We usually keep tabs on what Lucy is doing to make sure she doesn't need anything, but with her passing out we were waiting to help." Loke answers their question.

"I can take the books to our world and will bring them out along with some food and to check on Princess when you get to the cottage." Virgo quickly leaves the room to gather the items needing to be taken with the mayor following behind her. Probably eager to ask her questions as well as helping to pack things.

"I will go with them as well. I want to give her some of those cookies I baked for you. Our number is by the phone at the cottage. Please call if you need anything. Take care of Lucy young man," Carina says sternly.

"Of course ma'am. I will always look out for her." I tell her while looking at Lucy.

Loke looks at Lucy with pride before smirking towards Natsu. "I guess I will have to reschedule that date with Lucy." His smirk widens and there is amusement in his eyes as I growl lowly at him and give him a glare. "Yes I know Natsu. It isn't hard to tell really. Lucy may be oblivious, but I am not." He suddenly gets serious. "I am warning you though. You will not hurt her or you will have to deal with all of us."

Inwardly rolling my eyes, but still grateful that she has a wonderful family in her spirits I nod in acknowledgment. "I couldn't hurt her even if I wanted to Loke. You should know that."

"Okay Natsu, we are ready to go. Virgo left but said she will be back after she makes dinner for you. Are you coming along Leo or are you going back too?" The mayor asks, a look in his eye hopes that Loke will stay so he can ask him questions.

Loke seems to notice this as well, "I will stay out for a little bit, I can see the questions forming in your eyes and I would be more than happy to answer anything I can."

The mayor smiles happily as they exit his house and heads towards the cottage. I tune them out as I look down at Luce. She hasn't moved much but snuggles into me more, a smile graces her lips as she sighs. "Natsu…"

* * *

Getting to the cottage I don't even make note of what it looks like as the mayor unlocks the front door and continues into the house opening another door motioning me towards it. Looking in I can see it is a bedroom and lower Luce down on the bed. She protests at the loose of heat but stays asleep. Pulling the covers over her I look at her one last time before quietly leaving the room.

Getting out into the main room I can see that the mayor is headed to leave. "Everything here works, and there is some food stocked up for you, but I think that Virgo will provide meals for Lucy, but you can eat what is stocked up. I will be heading out, and I will be here in the morning to begin training with Lucy. Have a good night." He quietly closes the door and leaves.

Now that I am not worried about Luce I can see that this cottage reminds me of my house. I see that there is a fireplace and light it to keep the house warm for Lucy. Sighing I sit down on the couch. Loke sits down on the chair opposite of me. "When do you plan on telling her?" I sigh again remembering what the master told me before we left.

 _"_ _Why have you waited so long Natsu?"_

 _"_ _Because I knew almost instantly gramps. She knew nothing of my magic. I couldn't just throw what our connect is onto her without giving her time to get to know me. I don't want her to regret it."_

 _"_ _She wouldn't Natsu. From what I can see she has already made her choice. Whether she is aware of it or not. Look at what happened on the island. She has made her choice."_

 _A smile comes to my face and I remember her words on the island when Kain was threatening her. "I know, but I am not going to distract her from this training. She really wants it. I will tell her after. I know she will master those spells before the time frame. That will give us plenty of time."_

 _Chuckling I can see he is happy about what is to come. "Alright Natsu. Don't expect me to hold Mira back if you come back without telling Lucy."_

 _I blanch at the thought of Mira knowing my secret. "D-d-don't w-worry gramps. It will be done."_

 _"_ _Aright brat, go on and pack."_

 _Running down from gramps office I can see Luce quickly running out of the guild with Mira shouting out to her about babies. I shiver and see that Luce left her smoothie. Grinning because I get to see her while she is all frazzled I grab her drink and speed off towards her house._

 _Of course I didn't expect her to throw her underwear on me._

Chuckling at the memory I can see Loke waiting patiently for my answer. "I already told gramps, and I will tell you the same. I will tell her after her training. I don't want to distract her from this. The mayor said she can learn it all in six months. I will tell her then so it gives us plenty of time to work things out. I just hope she can accept it."

"She does Natsu. She hasn't fully realized it, but she does accept it. I will not mention it. I do believe that Capricorn knows as well, but I know he won't say anything as it is not our place."

Sighing in relief "thank you Loke. I want to tell her when it is the right time."

"No problem. I am going home; I will tell Virgo that she can bring your things. Night and see you tomorrow."

Telling Loke bye, I get up and go check on Luce. Seeing her sleep so peacefully makes me smile. Satisfied that she is calmly sleeping I go back into the main room. Virgo is there.

"Good evening Natsu-san. Your books are on the table and your food is on the kitchen counter. Is Princess doing okay?"

"Yeah Virgo she is fine. She is just sleeping. I think that once she is done with her training she could probably summon more her keys at once. Thank you for taking care of the both of us, and for everything you have done."

"You're welcome Natsu-san. Good night and tell Princess I require punishment for not being able to catch her." She leaves in her normal fashion and I shake my head at her. I know I made fun of her spirits when I first met them, but I really appreciate all the things they have done for Lucy and the guild. Quickly eating the food Virgo made I mentally thank her and pick up one of my books. I really want to make Luce proud of me and prove to the guild and all of Fiore I am not a destructive mage incapable of controlling my magic. Sitting on the couch I open the book hoping to be able to read and understand a lot of it without having to bother Luce too much with helping me.

* * *

I hope you liked Natsu's POV. I hope it was good. I also plan on writing his POV more and more on his growth in his magic. The characters might be OOC, but this is fanfaction and it should be expected. Thank you for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

I apologize for the wait. I got sick and it was already mixed in with a little block for this chapter. I have rewritten it about 4 times. I don't know why it was a hard chapter for me, but it was. I hope you like it.

* * *

Chapter Six

Lucy's POV

-Two months later-

"Celestial shield!" I shout as Natsu shoots a small stream of fire towards me. The impact has me gritting my teeth and sweat running down my face. The hit wasn't a long one, but it was enough to make me exhausted and annoyed.

"Luce it still isn't big or strong enough, you barely missed being singed that time,"

"Yeah I know. No matter how much magic I push into it, the shield won't get bigger or stronger. Even following the directions from Orion it is barely enough to protect myself, never mind someone else. I've been at this for days now and it has barely gotten any bigger."

"Luce, emotions are very important to our magic. Anger and love are the strongest emotions we have." Natsu says as he grabs my hands. "Another thing just as strong as anger and love is protection. It goes hand in hand with love. You want to protect those you love. Use that love when building your shield. Think of why you want to have a shield in the first place. You want to use it to protect yourself, your friends, your family. Your loved ones. Use those emotions towards your shield and it will come easily." Letting go of my hands he slowly backs away. "Use that love Lucy. Don't just think, feel. Try again."

Replaying what he told me I know he is right. When I think back to his battles, his love for his family is what made him stronger. Taking a deep breath, I look straight into his eyes. His eyes showing confidence that I will get this. Determined I picture the shield again. I think of my friends, my family, everyone I love and my desire to protect them. To protect him. My magic stirs. It comes out of my body faster than last time and forms a barrier in front of me. Once I feel that it is solid I give a nod towards Natsu.

When he sees that I finally have a shield up he runs towards me he bringing his arm up and slams it down on my shield. Once his fist makes contact his whole body is thrown a few feet away.

"Damn Luce, that was hard. It felt like punching a wall. I want to try with more magic than last time."

"I don't think that is a good idea Natsu. I don't think it will hold up. I barely kept the other one up with a small stream of fire," I tell him nervously.

"Lucy, trust me. If I didn't think it would hold up I wouldn't suggest it. I wouldn't risk your safety. I know it will hold up. Trust me, but more importantly, trust yourself and your magic."

"O-okay, go ahead," I nod hesitantly. If he believes I can do this, then I need to try my best.

Strengthening my shield, I wait for his attack. I see him bring his hands to his mouth and my eyes widen at the spell he is going to use. Little more magic than last time my ass!

"Roar of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu shouts as fire erupts from his mouth. I close my eyes tightly waiting for the intense heat and pain from his flames. After a few seconds and nothing happening I open my eyes. Shocked to see that my shield is still up, and no flames are around. I can see Natsu grinning widely and running towards me. He picks me up and spins me around.

"That was fantastic Luce! I knew you could do it!" He shouts in excitement.

* * *

After practicing the shield spell for a while I'm now able to create them instantly around myself and around others. The more magic I put into them, the stronger the shield is.

"One last try Lucy! I want to see if I can get past your shield." Natsu says determined.

Nodding cockily, "you can try Natsu! You haven't been able to yet, this time won't be any different!"

"I'm all fired up!" He screams as he runs towards me.

Strengthening my shield, I want for him to attack. One second I see him and the next he isn't there. Looking around for him I don't see him anywhere.

"Ompf" I hit the ground hard but my head and lower back is protected. I look up to see Natsu grinning widely as he pins me down.

Leaning closely, "I win," he whispers in my ear. A shiver runs down my spine as his breath tickles my ear. Looking into his eyes I can see them darken a bit. His head starts to lean towards me. Is he… is he going to kiss me?!

"Princess! Your knight has… Am I interrupting something?"

"Loke!" Both Natsu and I shout at the same time. We quickly stand and turn away from each other.

"S-so L-Loke w-what are you doing here?" I stutter out.

Looking at me I see Loke glance at Natsu then back to me. "I was just visiting Princess. I felt your happiness with you successfully doing your shield. Congratulations Princess." He gets on one knee and grabs my hand, "As a reward I would love to take you out to dinner."

"No" I deadpan. "Besides, I told Natsu I would cook him a good dinner tonight. I haven't been able to much the last two months with all the meditating and physical training I have been doing. Plus, all the training I have been doing with the telepathy between my keys."

"Yeah Loke, leave my Luce alone! You have Aries don't you?" Natsu asks as he puts his arm around my shoulders and gently pulls me away from Loke

I look at him surprised that he remembers that.

"Yes I remember that Luce. I do listen to you when you talk to me"

Did I just say that out loud?

"Yes you did." Both Loke and Natsu say together and start laughing.

Embarrassed I start walking away. "Well it was good to see you Loke. I am going to go take a shower. Have a good night."

"Okay Princess. I want to talk to Natsu for a minute and then I will come join you! Wait for ompf," Loke grunts as Natsu punches him in the stomach.

"Natsu that was mean. Wait Loke what do you want to talk to Natsu about?"

"It is guy stuff Princess. Top secret."

"Um… okay then. Have fun and don't fight too much." I go inside to take a shower.

* * *

Looking around the house I see that Natsu isn't here yet. I go into the kitchen to make dinner when Virgo pops out.

"Virgo! You scared me!" I tell her while holding my hand to my chest.

"I must be punished then Princess!"

"Uh no that is okay. Is there something you need Virgo?"

'Yes Princess. Capricorn-sama was monitoring your training today. Capricorn-sama feels that you are ready to move onto the next spell. He would like for you to call him out tomorrow when you meet with the mayor. I have also prepared dinner for you and the slayer since you accomplished the shield. Your dinner is in the living room on the table. Have a good night Princess." Virgo quickly leaves but not before I catch that mischievous gleam in her eyes. Wait living room? Why would she put it there?

"Hey Luce! I'm back. Um…" I hear Natsu shout from the living room.

"Hey Natsu! Virgo made us dinner…" I trail off when I get to the living room and see why he stopped talking. The lights are dimmed with the furniture being moved around. In the middle of the room is a table with two chairs. The fireplace is lite as well as the candles on the table and around the room. On the table is a white tablecloth and a small vase with a red rose in it. There are two plates on the table with food ready to eat.

"Virgo!" I shout.

"Is something wrong Princess?" Virgo asks innocently, but there is amusement in her eyes.

"What is up with this Virgo?"

"I thought you and _your_ slayer would like a nice dinner tonight for accomplishing your new spell Princess." She emphases. I feel my face heat up at the implications. Thankfully the room is too dark to notice.

"Uh…okay. Thanks Virgo. You can go home now." I say quickly trying to get over the awkwardness of the situation.

"You're welcome Princess. I will tell Leo-sama that you liked our surprise. Good night." She leaves before I can say anything to her.

"Loke huh?" I hear Natsu ask. His voice sounds a little strained. "Well let's eat Luce, I'm starving!" Natsu pulls me to the table and pulls out my chair.

"Thanks Natsu. So what did you and Loke talk about?"

"Oh nothing really." He scratches the back of his neck. I can tell he is uncomfortable.

"O-okay. Well Virgo told me that Capricorn said I was ready to move onto the next spell." I tell him happily.

"That's great Luce! I told you that it won't take you long to learn these spells. You got the shield down in no time. I guess that is why Loke told me that he would be able to spar with me for a little bit soon since you will be moving onto the next spell."

We continue through dinner making small talk and going through Natsu's books. After we eat we clean up quickly and head towards our rooms. Since my room is before his I stop before he can continue on and grab his hand.

"Natsu, I just wanted you to know I am proud of you." I gently squeeze his hand.

"For what Luce?"

"For all the progress you have been making. I know that this isn't necessarily exciting for you, but you are doing very well in your studies and training."

He squeezes my hand before letting go and hugging me. He puts his face right next to my neck and breaths in deeply. "I'm proud of you too. You're wrong though. This is fun and exciting. There is nowhere else I would rather be than with you."

As he is talking I can feel his lips lightly over my skin. My breath hitches a little at the feeling of electricity. He pulls back and I can see a look in his eyes that I can't figure out.

"Good night Luce. Sleep well. It sounds like you will have a busy day tomorrow." He heads off to his room while I go to mine. Laying on my bed I think about what happened today. He almost kissed me earlier didn't he? No, Natsu is my best friend. He wouldn't do something like that. Not that I wanted him to. Right? Ugh this is so confusing.

I don't have time for this. I have to spend this time training so I can help Natsu get S class, not worrying about kissing him.

Rolling over I try to shut off my mind and sleep. It is a little chilly in the room. Hmm normally I'm not cold when I sleep though. Oh right since we have come here Natsu doesn't sneak into my bed anymore. I wonder why? Wait am I really worried about why? Shouldn't that be a good thing? I am always yelling at him to get out of my bed, but I do miss his heat. Maybe I could sneak into his bed and see how he likes it? Wait no that is creepy Lucy.

 _Knock. Knock._

"Hey Luce? Are you awake?" I hear Natsu ask softly as he opens my door a little.

"Yeah I'm awake. Is something wrong Natsu?"

"Uh…nothing in particular. I just went to check on the fireplace and we are out of wood so the house might get a little chilly tonight. I didn't want you to get cold so I was going to see if I could lay on top of your covers so you have some heat."

"Y-yeah that is fine Natsu." I move over a little bit and lift up the covers for him. "No reason to sleep on top and be uncomfortable. You always sleep under at home anyways." I am glad that the room is dark so he can't see the redness in my face. I have never willingly let him in my bed before.

"O-okay," he clears his throat and gets into bed. I roll over so my back faces him.

"Ahh sooo warm. Thank you Natsu. Sleep well." I tell him sleepily.

"Anything for you Luce," I hear him say before I fall asleep.

* * *

Waking up the next morning I am extremely warm. I can't tell if it is from Natsu's body heat, or embarrassment when I realize how we are laying. My face is right against his chest and his head is laying right above mine with his nose in my hair. His arms are wrapped tightly around me and one of my arms is around him. I could get used to this.

Wait what? How could I think that?

 _"_ _You liiiiiike him,"_ I hear Virgo tell me through telepathy.

 _"_ _Virgo!"_

 _"_ _Punishment Princess?"_

 _"_ _No, you are sounding like Happy though."_

"Morning Luce," Natsu says groggily.

"Morning Natsu. Can you let me go so I can get ready?"

As if he just realized how he is laying is quickly let's go and jumps off the bed. "Yeah you do that Luce, your hair is all crazy!" He runs out of the room just as the pillow I threw hits the wall.

"Natsu!" I hear him laughing and can't help but to chuckle.

Once we are ready we call the mayor to have him come over. He arrives shortly after and I summon out Capricorn while Loke comes out on his own and drags Natsu to the other side of the yard.

"Good morning Lucy-sama, Orion-sama. I monitored Lucy-sama's training yesterday and I am confident that she is ready for the next spell."

"That is wonderful! It didn't take you long to learn the shield spell! Only a few days! Now the next thing I think will take very little time for you to learn."

"I'm ready!"

"Okay the next spell is a group of them. It is called Star Dress. When using Star Dress, you are able to use your spirits powers yourself. In doing so you won't use as much magic because you will be able to use their powers without having to call them out. The good thing about this spell is that you can use their powers, but if you wanted you could also have your spirit out so it would be two people doing the attack instead of just one."

Excitement runs through me at the thought that I could help my spirits more than with just my whip.

"I know it won't take you long to do this because in order to do it, you have to have a strong bond and trust with your spirits. So let's get started and you will be doing this training until you can use all of your spirits powers easily. Capricorn has volunteered to go first."

This is how I spent the next couple of months training.

* * *

End of chapter six. I hope you enjoyed it. I finally got this chapter the way I wanted. Took me long enough. I apologize again for the wait.


	7. Chapter 7

I am so sorry! After the last update my husband and I moved. When we got to our new house we were not able to have internet for a month, followed by family visiting for a reunion so we were housing relatives. Then we had to go back to our old apartment and finish clearing it out. We have been back for only a couple of weeks and I have been busy with unpacking and trying to destress from the move. I apologize again for such a late update. I have had this chapter over halfway done, I just couldn't figure a good ending. I hope everyone is satisfied with this chapter!

* * *

Chapter 7

Lucy's POV

-Two-month time skip—Total of four months training-

"Congratulations Lucy on completing the Star Dress spell. I knew it wouldn't take you long to get done with it. Now, since your bonds are even stronger with your spirits, you should be able to do a silent summons. This is beneficial because when doing your trials that your master is doing, your guild mates won't be able to hear which of your spirits you are calling out, so they cannot prepare if they know what that spirit does."

"That would be awesome! That would make fighting them easier, especially since the people that will most likely be selected are close friends." I tell the mayor.

"Okay so try it. Just think of the summons in your mind and push your magic through your keys like normal. I would call out your Plue since he takes the least amount of magic until you get used to it. After you finish that let me know and we can move on. I am going to talk to Natsu for a moment," with that the mayor walks off to go talk to Natsu who is reading more of his books.

Grabbing Plue's key I try to do the silent summons. _"Open the gate of the Canis Minor! Nikora!_ " I say in my mind while pushing magic into the key. Nothing happens. Well this is going to be harder than I was hoping. Obviously it wouldn't be easy or mama would have taught me that when I was first learning. I wonder why all mages have to say the spell out loud to get it to work. Maybe it just takes practice to get it to happen silently. Trying again ends in the same result. Puffing my cheeks out in a pout I try to think of a different way to get this. Determination run through me. I won't give up! I will keep doing it over and over until I get it.

Looking over towards Natsu I see that he is talking to Orion, but still reading his book. After all the trouble Natsu has been going through to read his books, he isn't giving up. So neither can I. Turning away from him I try to call out Plue again. This time there is a little sparkle but nothing much. Yes! Closer than last time. After a few more tries I am finally able to call Plue out.

"Puu-puun!"

"Plue! I did it!" I pick him up and swing him around laughing.

"Congratulations Princess! Now you can summon me when you are with your team at night to snuggle with you!" Loke says dramatically as he comes out of his own gate.

Ignoring Loke I walk over towards Natsu and Orion with a big smile on my face. They are both looking at me with their own grins.

"That didn't take you long Lucy. The last of the spells won't be as easy I am afraid, but I have faith you can finish them in a timely manner. Why don't you take the rest of the day off since you are progressing so well?"

The phone in the house starts to ring, the mayor seems know who is calling and goes to answer it.

"That would be great! We could use a break! Well since we have the rest of the day off what do you want to do Natsu?" I ask him while gently patting Plue.

He looks at Plue and reaches over to pat him. "I miss Happy. I hope his training is going well. As for tonight I will let you decide. Even though you have gotten far in your training I have barely made a dent in these books. It is takes too long for me."

"I miss him too, but doing that training will make him happier I think, I know he feels bad that he can't help out much on missions. He has told me before that he wished he could do more than just fly. Well your reading has gotten a lot better. If speed is an issue would you like to try with my gale force glasses? They will help speed it up quite a bit?"

"Couldn't hurt. Thanks Luce."

"I'll go grab them. Give me a second. Plue stay with Natsu for a second."

"Don't forget about me Princess. I shall walk you in!" Loke says while walking towards me before tripping over his feet and falling on his face. Both Natsu and I start laughing loudly.

"Princess! You know what they say right? A kiss makes the pain go away and I just so happened to land on my mouth." He puckers up his lips a little bit while looking smug.

"I don't think it counts when you purposely hurt yourself Lion." Natsu says hotly.

"He's right Loke. Forced gate closure." I say while walking back into the house. Coming out I see Natsu talking to Plue fondly. I'm glad he gets along with my friends. He looks so cute with Plue. I freeze a moment at that thought. Shaking my head, I walk back towards Natsu.

"Here you go Natsu. This should help to speed up your reading. Hopefully I will be able to finish training in the next two months and I can help you more practice what your books are telling you about." As Natsu takes the glasses our fingers touch and I feel a zap of electricity.

"Thanks Luce. You're the best!" He tells me softly. He puts the glasses on and goes back to reading to test them out. When the glasses on him makes him look more mature and alluring.

 _"_ _You liiiiiike him."_

 _"_ _Virgo! Stay out of my head!"_

 _"_ _Punishment?"_

Mentally I face palm at her. But I can still tell my face is a little warm from her teasing.

"These are amazing! Now it won't take me long to get through these books! Thanks Luce!" Natsu exclaims and pulls me into a hug. "Now that I can get these done faster we can just relax tonight."

"Well, kiddos I have a date with Carina, so I will be heading out. Before I go though I want to go into what your next training will be. I think you might even be able to start tonight if you wanted."

"Oh really? That would be awesome!"

"Okay so the last set of spells is called Celestial Elements. Your magic is star based. Which in turn is related to stardust. Stardust floats down and touches almost everything. That includes the elements. With this set of spells, you will have some control over the elements."

I can feel my eyes go wide. I look to Natsu to see that he is equally surprised. "Wait so that means I can eat Lucy's fire?! This is awesome! I wonder how it would taste! It has to taste good, maybe like strawberries like Luc… ah never mind," Natsu says a little flustered.

"I don't think so Natsu. Her fire will be infused with Stardust, so it is not entirely fire. The only way you could is…OH!" The mayor's eyes go wide with recognition. I see him look towards Natsu before clearing his throat and moving on. "Well anyways, I think you will have an easier time learning water first considering your bond with Aquarius, then earth for Virgo, air won't take long because you stir it up when you meditate, and lastly, fire. Fire will be the hardest, as I am sure Natsu can verify. I know you can accomplish this though. There's a lake a few miles out. You could go swimming and if you wanted to, start to practice with the water element. It is just like how it feels when you are using your Aquarius star dress, just without calling her out. If you do practice please let me know how it goes tomorrow, but don't feel like you have to do it. Have fun kiddos!"

"Thank you Orion! Have a good date. Tell Carina we said hi." I tell him. "That sounds like fun! We haven't had time to relax like that and it is pretty warm out… but I didn't bring a swim suit." I say turning towards Natsu.

 _"_ _Princess I would be more than happy to provide you with a swimsuit for you and the slayer."_ I hear Virgo tell me.

"Well never mind, Virgo says she can get us a swimsuit. Do you need one?"

"Nope, I brought one just in case. Let's go eat first and we can head out." Natsu stands and pulls me up. Going inside we make a quick lunch of sandwiches and then go into our rooms to change.

"Here is your swimsuit Princess. I hope it is satisfactory." She hands me the suit quickly before leaving. I look at what she brought me and my jaw drops.

 _"_ _VIRGO! THIS IS NOT A SWIMSUIT! IT IS MORE LIKE A FEW STRINGS!"_

 _"_ _Sorry Princess. I thought you would like that. Oh I have to go Princess. Have fun swimming."_

I groan knowing that she did this on purpose to tease me. With no choice I put on the skimpy thing and pull a shirt and shorts on quickly so I didn't feel naked.

"Let's go Luce!" I hear Natsu shout from the main room.

I am going to regret this but it is too late to back out. Leaving the room, I see Natsu has two towels and a bag filled with stuff. "Virgo brought some stuff for us to use, sunscreen and other things."

We head out the door and follow Natsu's nose to the lake.

* * *

Natsu's POV

About a half hour later we finally arrive to the lake, and it is amazing. "This looks awesome!" I look towards Luce with a look of joy on her face. "I'll race you Luce!"

"You're on fire fart! But first I need to put on some sunscreen. I don't want to burn." I hear her say as I am quickly undressing. Surprised at that I turn around with my comeback only for it to die in my throat. She is too preoccupied with setting her clothes aside and grabbing the lotion to notice.

 _What is she wearing!? Or better yet, not wearing! I am so glad none of the perverts from the guild are here to see this. Wait is that…?_

"Luce? Are those…flames?" I ask her slowly to not choke on my tongue.

"Hmm?" Looking down I can see she didn't even know what design was on her suit. "Huh, I guess they are. I just quickly put it on because I was um... excited to come swimming. Virgo brought it for me. A-anyways can you get my back and then we can go swimming?" I hear the stutter and her heart rate speed up. I hope that is a good sign for me.

I slowly grab the lotion and walk behind her. My mouth feels like it is fully of cotton.

 _There is even less fabric back here than in the front. Curse you Virgo… but thank you Virgo!_

I quickly put the lotion on her while trying not to lose control of myself. After I am done I pick her up quickly and throw her into the water.

 _I can only take so much temptation._

"NATSU!" She shrieks as she comes up from the water. I smirk at her before diving in right next to her causing her to be splashed. Coming up I laugh at her dumbfounded look before she gets a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

I look at her wearily as she puts her hands on her hips. She slowly walks towards me and I stand my ground. Cause I am a man and I am not scared! I think while trying not to tremble.

"Oh Naaatsu," she coos. She breaks out into a wide grin, "Gotcha!"

Confusion crosses my mind before I feel cold water dumped over my head. To stunned to move I stand there. I hear a melodious laugh before I come back to my senses. "LUCE!" I give her a big toothy grin before giving her a tight hug…maybe that wasn't the smartest idea considering her lack of um…clothing. "What was that?"

"Well I thought about what Orion said and wanted to see if I could do it. It was actually really easy since I do something similar in my star dress. I'm just glad it worked out because I didn't have another plan to pay you back."

"I'm glad it worked too!" I tell her honestly before smirking at her. "Of course that is the best you can do. You're still not as strong as me and couldn't dunk me. You've trained a lot Luce. You didn't have any problems with the walk here and you didn't complain like you normally do!" I watch in satisfaction as her face turns a lovely shade of red before she sends more of her water magic at me splashing me some more.

After a couple of hours playing around we decide to get out and lay out under the stars. I light myself on fire and see Lucy looking at me in envy.

"I hope I can become my own dyer when I learn the celestial fire," she pouts.

Chuckling I walk towards her while I am still light up and see her looking at me wearily while covering her chest up. It seems she thinks I will burn her suit away. "Trust me," I whisper to her and I let my flames die down, but keep the heat. I hug her and feel her sigh and relax.

"I didn't know you could do that Natsu." She says as she pulls away looking at herself now fully dried.

"I couldn't, until a couple of days away. It was in the books that I could do it so I have been practicing."

"Natsu! I'm so proud of you!" She hugs me again before pulling me down to watch the stars. We snuggle up next to each other naturally without even realizing it.

"Point some out to me Luce," I say softly.

She looks at me a little surprised, but starts to point out her friends anyways. Lucy starts to talk softer and I realized the she drifting off into sleep. Scanning the area, I feel comfortable in camping out tonight here and heat myself up a little bit more to keep Lucy warm. I gently kiss the top of her forehead. "A couple more weeks Natsu and then you can tell her how you feel," I say softly as I feel sleep pulling at me while tightening my hold on Lucy.

* * *

End of chapter 7. Once again I apologize and I will try to update again here soon. It is coming to the end of Lucy's training and then we will get more into her and Natsu's relationship and well as the problems in the guild.


	8. Chapter 8

Here is the incredibility late chapter 8. Sorry, life happens. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 8

Natsu's POV

"Hey Luce? You want to watch some t.v?" I ask only to get silence. "…Luce?" I look into the living room to see that she isn't there anymore. Taking a quick sniff, I notice she hasn't been here in a while. Confused and a little worried I look for her scent trail.

Walking outside and up a little hill I see her laying there. The moonlight shining down on her making her look like she is glowing. I see that she is relaxed and awake which calms me down. As I walk over to her she turns towards me. She smiles a bright smile that takes my breath away, but I can see a slight sadness in her eyes that she is trying to hide.

"What's wrong Lucy?" I ask as I sit beside her and grab her hand. I see her thinking about it, trying to find the right words.

"I'm sorry."

I look at her in mock anger with a scowl, "you should be sorry, and here I was going to waste this beautiful night inside watching t.v., while you're enjoying the stars without me."

She giggles and my lips twitch. She sits up and I pull her into my lap with her back to my chest and recline so we are looking up at the stars. I hear her heart beat speed up and smirk. "What are you sorry for Luce?" I ask softly.

"For yelling at you on jobs. I never knew how hard it was for you to control your fire. I still struggle with it, and it isn't my main source of magic. Where yours is who you are. It is what your magic is and I'm sorry I never took the time to try to see how much you struggled with it," she says with tears rimming her guilt-ridden eyes.

"Luce…" I hug her tightly, "It is okay. I'm not mad at you. I know it is hard to understand someone else's magic. I know even though it made you mad, you never gave up on our friendship because I cost us money on jobs. That means more to me than you realize. Erza and Gray are just as bad as me, but you are not. You chose to stay. I would bet that in a couple days you will be able to control the fire easily. Especially since you read those books with me. So, come on, give me that beautiful smile."

A small amount of pink comes to her cheeks, but still gives me that heart stopping grin. "Well what do we do now? The mayor says that since I learned celestial fire, there is nothing else he can teach me."

"We still have five months left on this mission, so I say we spend the rest of the time training and practicing our moves together to do combos for the trials. But there is something else I want to talk to you about…" I trail off and pick her up and turn her so I can see her curious face.

"I have known you for a short amount of time in our lives, but my soul has always been with yours. I know we are young, and I wanted to give you time, but I can't wait anymore. When Kain was attacking you on the island, I realized that I don't want my feelings to never be known." I grab her hands gently and see her eyes soften with a gentle smile. "I love you Lucy."

Her breath hitches and tears run down her cheeks, looking like crystals in the moonlight. "I love you too Natsu," she says simply but with pure happiness and love.

I pull her into a crushing hug and let go before I get ahead of myself. "What do you know of a dragon slayers magic?"

"Well me and Levy have talked about it before. She found a book and being that we were both with slayers all the time, we thought it was best to learn what we could for future reference. Why?"

"What do you know about mates?" I ask slowly while staring intently at her face.

She looks shocked, but is now more curious, "Not much was said, except that your magic points you in the right direction."

"Well that is somewhat true and wrong. With my magic, it is the traits of a dragon. That's why my sight, hearing, sense of smell, and teeth are stronger. Along with those traits comes some of the mindset of the dragon itself. Which is represented by the magic. The magic itself if the instincts of a dragon. With that, I have a mate. Only one in my life. That is one of the stipulations of learning this magic, you follow the instinct of a dragon. When I met you at Hargeon I felt drawn to you, but I didn't know why. I thought it was because you were a nice person and wanted to join Fairy Tail. I never noticed why I was drawn until I was already in love with you. I don't want you to think that I only loved you because of you being my mate. It is because I love you, that I realized what my magic was hinting at."

"Wow, that's a lot to take in. How long have you known that we were mates?"

"I've known since the Phantom Lord incident when Gajeel took you."

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" I can hear the curiosity in her voice.

"That is simple. I wanted you to fall in love with me on your own, without feeling forced into this. There is something I need to tell you about accepting. There are things that you need to know about the mating."

"I'm listening. What do we have to do." She asks seriously, not wanting to miss anything important.

"When a dragon slayer mates, magics are shared. Our appearance will slightly alter as will our magic. We would develop markings that are scale-like and we would be able to use each other's magic. The markings would be a mix of our magic colors, and with our magic, you would be unharmed by fire and could call on some of my moves, and I would be able to summon your spirits. We would also be able to talk telepathically with each other and sense our emotions."

"Would we develop scales all over? If not, where? How would you be able to summon my spirits if they are contracted to me? How do we form that bond? Do we have to drink blood? Do you have to bite me?" She rattles off questions left and right.

I grab her shoulders and slightly shake her, "Lucy! Calm down. Breathe woman."

She takes a big gulp of air and calms down. "Sorry, just curious."

I chuckle at her, "It's okay. I would have a lot of questions too if I were you. Now for your questions. No, I don't have to bite you…unless you want me too," I wink at her lecherously.

A gasp, a red face, and a slap to the arm was my answer, "Idiot," she says fondly. "I was joking weirdo. Anyways, there is no biting or blood involved, but magic. We wouldn't get the scales everywhere, only a few places. Over the brow, under the eyes, a few along the arms, hips and legs. I am not sure as to why we do, that is just what Igneel said. I think it might be the dragons' way to 'warn' off others." I shrug.

After a minute of thinking it over, Lucy nods her head for me to continue. "For our magic, the reason we would share, is because of the bond. It is basically forming a tether where our bodies would 'send' information about our magic. I would be able to summon your spirits because I would be connected to you, and same with you using my magic. To form the bond is easy. It is through touch and intent. I would kiss the areas that are to show the scales to show my acceptance, and then touch with my finger with my magic with the intent to mark. You would do the same to me after, it is very simple and easy."

"What exactly does it mean to be mates?"

"Well in dragon terms, would be husband and wife. In human terms, we would just be a couple, but we have a stronger and impossible to break bond. I do plan on asking you to marry me, just not with everything that is going on right now. I want you to have your dream wedding, but until then… Will you, Lucy Heartfilia, do me the honor of being my mate?"

"Yes! I would love to be your mate Natsu!" She exclaims and I pull her in for a hug.

"Let's go inside so we can do the bond, it is getting late." I stand up and pull her up too. She starts to walk to the cottage. I grab her hand and quickly pull her to me and before she can question me, my lips are upon hers in a soft and gentle kiss. I pull away and lay my forehead on hers. "Sorry, I have been wanting to do that for a long time."

She grabs the back of my neck and kisses me, with a wink she walks off, "same here Natsu. Don't apologize for following your heart."

* * *

Lucy's POV

"Okay so what do we do now?" I ask as we sit on the couch.

"The first part is easy, but before we continue I want you to okay the second. When we do the bonding, and the line opens between us, there will be a lot of intense feelings, which usually leads to the second part. If we do this tonight, we would make love. Are you okay with that?" He asks softly but with a serious look.

"I love you Natsu. Like you said, in dragon terms we would be married. That is what people do when they get married. I wouldn't have accepted if I didn't accept that our relationship was changing."

He breathes out in relief. "I'm glad you still accept me. Now for the first part. It is very simple. I will work from head to toe on giving my intent. I just need you to relax and accept my marks." He stands up and pulls me up with him. I stand still so I don't mess anything up.

Natsu puts his hands on the sides of my heads and gives me a gentle kiss before moving to my forehead. I feel him softly kissing over my brows and relax as he then touches where he kisses. I can feel his magic through the warmth of his touches. My skin tingles as he continues his light kisses and touches. He moves on to my arms and gently lifts my shirt up to do my hips. Lastly if my legs before he stands and kisses me again. My whole body is tingling in warmth and embraced in his love for me.

"It's your turn Lucy. You must do the same as me and in the same places. My magic will help guide you. After that, we will move onto the second part of the bonding." He says so quietly as if afraid to startle me.

It is hard for me to think straight with all this warmth running through me, but I can feel my body repeating his actions. As I finish he grabs me quickly and I look to his eyes. I can see the skin on his face slowly start to change until the scales are formed.

"Beautiful…" I hear him murmur, but I am too lost at his beauty to comment.

I gently run my hands over his scales. They are a light reddish color and the tips are golden. They stand out, but are not loud in their showings.

Natsu quickly scoops me up and sets me in front of the mirror in the bathroom. Gasping at my reflection, I run my fingers over the scales on my face. They are like Natsu's but mine are golden with light reddish tips. I glance at Natsu in the mirror and I see him staring intently at me with his hands clenched into a fist.

"Is something wrong Natsu?" I ask a little worriedly.

He unclenches his hands and turns me to face him. He hugs me and puts his nose in the crook of my neck and takes a long breath in. He starts to kiss up my neck slowly and my breath hitches. Goosebumps are forming on my arms and I turn my neck to the side submitting to him. I can hear him rumble in approval before he moves up to my ear.

"Nothing is wrong, mate, just trying to take things slow so I don't scare you. My instincts are driving me to finish the bonds, but I am trying to let you set the pace." He whispers, his voice deeper, huskier.

I shiver as his breath blows across my ear and my belly clenches in excitement. "Don't hold back on my account. Finish the bond." I tell him boldly.

He gently bits my ear before picking me up again and going into the bedroom.

I didn't get an ounce of sleep on this night.

* * *

So, there is chapter 8. Sorry I don't write lemons; they make me feel too awkward and fake for me to write. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope I explained things well. This is the end of Lucy's training. Natsu and Lucy are now mated and will spend the last of their mission time to training. The next chapter should go into finishing up their mission and going back to the guild and talking about their relationship. I will try to upload as fast as I can, but school this semester has been a killer.


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